JEFFERSON — It was Jefferson 2, Hall County 0 Saturday in the Class AAAA basketball playoffs.
The Jefferson girls opened a doubleheader at The Arena with a 43-38 win over Chestatee and then the Jefferson boys rallied from nine down in the third quarter to beat West Hall 62-48 in the nightcap.
For the Lady Dragons, it was their second straight march into the Sweet 16. For the Jefferson boys, it was their first playoff win since 2012.
The Lady Dragons will move on to play host to Pickens next week in the second round. The Jefferson boys will travel to LaFayette in the second round.
JEFFERSON GIRLS 43,
CHESTATEE 38
The taller Lady Dragons finally took advantage of their height in the fourth quarter as they held off a pesky upset-minded Lady War Eagles squad.
Senior Jazmin Allen poured in 10 of her 14 points to with 8 rebounds in the second half as Jefferson (22-6) rallied from a halftime deficit to advance to the second round of the Class AAAA playoffs for a second consecutive season.
Jefferson coach Jason Gibson said the plan coming out of the locker room was to do what they do best.
“We knew we had a size advantage and we were able to get the ball inside, which was our plan all along,” Gibson said. “Chestatee is a much better team than their record shows. This time of year is just survive and advance and we were able to do that.”
Chestatee (11-18) led 24-22 at halftime after holding the Lady Dragons to just 7 second quarter points. The Lady War Eagles zone defense gave Jefferson fits but a Mariah Starks 3-pointer late in the third quarter gave the Lady Dragons a 28-27 lead they would not relinquish. The shot also forced Chestatee into more man-to-man defense.
That’s when Allen was able to take advantage scoring Jefferson’s first nine points in the fourth quarter, all within 5-feet of the basket, as Chestatee had no one that could match up with the 5-foot-11 forward. The burst pushed Jefferson’s lead to 38-33 with 3:46 left. The Lady War Eagles pulled within 40-37 on a pair of Lindsey Caudell free throws with 2:51 left but could get no closer. Jefferson also outrebounded Chestatee 12-4 in the second half.
Starks sealed it hitting 3-of-4 free throws in the final 37 seconds.
“We were able to get (Jazmine) the ball when we got them out of their zone and she had a good fourth quarter,” Gibson said of Allen. “I was proud of how we hung on at the end by hitting some free throws.”
Jefferson now will look for its second straight Elite 8 appearance playing host to Region 6-AAAA No. 2 seed Pickens next week in the second round.
The Lady War Eagles matched Jefferson toe-to-toe in the first half. Peri Satterfield opened the game with a 3-pointer for Chestatee and the Lady Dragons’ McKenzie Tyner answered with a trey to tie the game. After a Christina Garcia basket, Tyner drained another 3-pointer to ignite a 12-3 run for a 15-8 lead.
Chestatee answered that run with a 11-0 burst starting with a Garcia 3-pointer and then made it a 14-2 run that ended with a Lindsey Caudell trey for a 22-17 lead midway through the second quarter. Jefferson would hold the Lady War Eagles to just one Caudell field goal over the final four minutes and closed to within 24-22 by halftime.
Jefferson’s trademark press helped produce 7 Chestatee turnovers. However, the Lady Dragons struggled against Chestatee’s zone defense after the opening minutes committing 7 turnovers and the smaller Lady War Eagles matched Jefferson on the boards with 12 rebounds apiece.
Caudell closed out her stellar high school career leading Chestatee with 16 points. Satterfield had 9 points but none in the second half.
JEFFERSON BOYS 62,
WEST HALL 48
Jefferson (18-10) used a 16-1 run in the fourth quarter to erase a 42-38 West Hall lead to earn its first playoff win in six years.
Dragons coach Kevin Morris did not dismiss that tidbit of information.
“I did not know that but this is huge for these kids,” Morris said. “They won just four games last year and now we’ve won, what, 18 so I just can’t say enough about these guys. They are a resilient bunch.”
The game was a microcosm of Jefferson's up-and-down season. The Dragons led by five in the second quarter, 16-11, and then trailed 32-23 midway through the third quarter after a 13-2 West Hall run. The Dragons rallied to tie the game at 38 but just as quick fell behind again 42-38 with just 5:27 left.
“It’s been like this most of the season where we get down and have to find a way to come back and get a win,” he said. “ West Hall is a scrappy bunch and they played well. Our plan the whole game was to try and get the ball inside but we weren’t able to do that until the fourth quarter really.”
After scoring just 33 points through the first three quarters, Jefferson exploded for 29 in the final period as Donsha Gaither and Jacob Radaker found some seems to break down the Spartans zone defense. Gaither poured in 12 of his 15 points and Radaker had six points in the quarter. But it was a huge four-point play by Jasper Gibson on a long 3-pointer on the wing with 4:55 left that gave Jefferson the last of nine total lead changes in the game at 45-42.
The Dragons never trailed again.
The win could give the young Dragons -- they had four sophomores and a freshman on the court several times -- the confidence to become a darkhorse in the Class AAAA field.
“We don’t play the young guys just to give them experience; we play them because they can play,” Morris said. “Hopefully this will help build their confidence even more.”
The big run gave Jefferson a 54-43 lead and West Hall (11-16) mounted one last rally closing to within 54-48 on a pair of free throws by Jeremiah Prather after a steal with 1:01 left. The Dragons would seal it with a pair of dunks, one each by Radaker and Gaither, to push the lead back to 10 points with just 31 seconds left.
Gibson finished with 14 points for Jefferson.
Prather, Noah Edmondson, and DJ Buffington all had 12 points to lead West Hall. Braden Martin added 7 for the Spartans.
